“And…my neighbor had a problem with that.”
“Why would she have a problem with you trimming a tree in your yard?” Moose asked suspiciously.
“Heryard. But it overhangs into mine.”
Irene chuckled. “Okay. Now I’m getting it. You tried to chop her tree down, she said no, and you wouldn’t let up because you’re a pushy bastard.”
“I prefer to think of myself as persistent,” Becket corrected. “And why are you on her side?”
“Because she’s right.”
He grabbed his chest, feigning hurt. “Five years working together and this is the loyalty I get?”
Irene snorted. “Telling you when you’re wrongisloyal. Now, you want my advice?”
“No.”
“Leave her and her tree alone.”
The corners of Becket’s lips lifted, because unfortunately for Sky, that wouldn’t be happening. Not until Jesse caught this thief and Becket knew they were both safe.
CHAPTER3
“How’s that beautiful neighbor of yours?”
Sky barely stifled a groan as she stopped at the front desk of her doggy daycare. Shedid notwant to talk about Becket. So far, she hadn’t seen him today. Which made it a good day.
“He’s not beautiful.” Okay, maybe he was a little bit beautiful, but that was completely offset whenever he opened his mouth. “He wanted to cut down my tree on Monday. I wouldn’t be surprised if I got home today and all I had left was a stump.”
She rifled through the filing cabinet a bit more aggressively.
Dolly, the older receptionist at the center, turned from the front desk. Her brows were raised and her big blond curls looked extra bright in contrast to her red-rimmed glasses. “What do you mean, he tried to cut down your tree?”
“He’s unhinged. I think his time in the military destroyed his capacity for social interaction.”
What the heck kind of person enjoyed filming other people’s front yards and cutting down trees and telling her she couldn’t have a boundary fence? The fence would go up though, and the day it did, she would smile at his misery.
“Doesn’t make him less beautiful,” Dolly sang.
Sky wrinkled her nose. But it wasn’t just Dolly who liked to sing Becket’s praises. Everyone in this small freaking town talked about theirsexy fire chieflike the sun shone out his ass. But those people didn’t have to live next door to him.
She looked up from the filing cabinet. “Do you know where Garfield’s file is? I need to double check his medication.”
“Oh yes, I took it out this morning to add some notes. I think I left it in the office. One sec.”
As Dolly moved into the office behind the desk, Sky’s gaze ran over the large sign on the wall.
Sky’s Doggy Daycare.
She still had to pinch herself that she’d opened this place. Back in Cheyenne, she’d owned a pet-friendly café. But this was different. This was exactly the kind of business she’d always dreamed of opening.
And it was doing well. Apparently, there was a big demand for a doggy daycare here in Amber Ridge. Some people used it while they worked. But a surprising number of elderly used it, as they put it, to socialize their dogs and help them make friends.
Worked for her.
She was just closing the drawer of the filing cabinet when the ding of the front door sounded.
She looked up to see their newest employee, Kristina. Well, new employee as of today, but they’d met before today at the interview. “Kristina. Hey. Sorry, is it eleven already? I’m afraid I lost track of time.”
